It depends on the insurer, and there is no single Portland rule. Many insurers ask for an inspection report from a licensed electrician before they will write or renew a policy on a house with knob-and-tube. Some will insure it with a surcharge, some require replacement before the policy binds, some set a timeline for replacement, and some decline. Ask your insurer what they want in writing, then get the report.
Why insurers ask about knob-and-tube in Portland
Knob-and-tube was the standard way to wire a house before 1940, and most of it went in before 1930. About 38.9% of Portland dwellings were built before 1940, so the question comes up here far more often than in the suburbs. Some of those houses were fully rewired decades ago. Many were partly rewired, with new cable in the kitchen and knob-and-tube still feeding the bedrooms.
The system has four traits insurers care about. It has no ground conductor, so a fault has no safe path and a three-prong outlet on it is not actually grounded. Its cloth and rubber insulation ages, dries and flakes. It was designed to run in open air and is not rated for contact with insulation, which matters in an attic that has been insulated since. And its splices are made in the open, soldered and taped, not inside a box.
None of that means every knob-and-tube circuit is about to fail. It means an insurer cannot tell from the outside whether yours is sound, so they ask for someone who can look.
What insurers commonly ask for
An inspection report
Many insurers want a written report from a licensed electrician stating where knob-and-tube is present, whether it is live, and what condition it is in.
Active or abandoned
Many insurers treat wiring that is disconnected and dead differently from wiring that still carries current. The report should say which is which, circuit by circuit.
Replacement before binding
Some insurers will not write a new policy on a house with active knob-and-tube until it is replaced and the permit is finaled.
Replacement on a timeline
Some insurers will bind the policy and give you a period to complete the replacement, with proof at the end.
A surcharge
Some insurers will cover active knob-and-tube in sound condition at a higher premium.
A decline
Some insurers will not cover it at all. That is a reason to ask before you close on a house, not after.
Active knob-and-tube and abandoned knob-and-tube
Active
Still connected at the panel and carrying current to outlets, lights or switches. This is what insurers are asking about. The report covers its condition, whether attic insulation has been laid over it, whether splices have been extended with modern cable, and what it feeds.
Abandoned
Disconnected at both ends and left in the walls. It carries no current and is not a hazard on its own. Many insurers accept it once a licensed electrician confirms in writing that it is dead. Old wire that looks abandoned but is still fed from somewhere is the trap; a proper report tests it rather than assuming.
The phrase to use with your insurer is active knob-and-tube. If all of yours has been made dead, that is a different conversation, and a report can say so.
How to handle an insurer's request, step by step
- 1
Ask what they need
Get the request in writing: a report only, replacement before binding, or replacement on a timeline. The answer decides the scope.
- 2
Get the report
A licensed electrician traces which circuits are knob-and-tube, tests whether each is live, and documents condition, splices and contact with insulation.
- 3
Get a written estimate
If replacement is required, the estimate covers what will be replaced, in what order, and whether the panel is part of it.
- 4
Permit
We pull the electrical permit with Portland Permitting & Development. In Oregon the person performing the work pulls the permit, so a hired contractor must buy it.
- 5
Replacement and inspection
New grounded cable replaces the knob-and-tube circuit by circuit. The city inspects at rough-in and again at final.
- 6
Send the paperwork
The finaled permit and, if asked, an updated letter from the electrician go to your insurer. The permit record also stays with the property.
What the electrician's report should cover
A report that says only that knob-and-tube is present does not help you. Ask for one that answers these.
What you disclose to your insurer is between you and them. The report describes the house; it does not answer the application for you.
How long the report and the replacement usually take
The report is the quick part. The inspection is a same-day visit, and you get a written list of everything that needs doing, sent the same day, ready to pass to your insurer if they ask for it.
Replacing knob-and-tube usually takes 2–7 days. Where a job lands in that range depends on how many circuits still run on it and how easy the attic and crawlspace are to reach. If the house needs a whole-house rewire instead, plan on 1–2 weeks, and the family can't stay in the house while that work happens.
Get the report, or the replacement
PWR Pro Electric inspects and replaces knob-and-tube in Portland and the greater Portland metro. Written report sent the same day, written estimate, permit pulled by us. Call 503-984-1097. Oregon CCB #259813.
Book a Knob-and-Tube Inspection